Ruth Zakarin
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ruthz.bsky.social
Ruth Zakarin
@ruthz.bsky.social
37K followers 2.2K following 5.4K posts
CEO of the MA Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence. Knitter, cat lady, grey hair evangelist. Oh, and I box. #COYS. Opinions strong, plentiful, and my own.

Check out my essays at: https://ruthzakarin.substack.com/
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ruthz.bsky.social
I spent over 25 years working with survivors of sexual and domestic violence, including so many who were children when they were assaulted. My heart breaks thinking about the impact of yesterday’s news on Epstein’s survivors, and all survivors. My wish for them: open.substack.com/pub/ruthzaka...
"I wish you didn't have to lay your trauma bare over and over again in an attempt to get justice. I wish the world was a safer place to disclose your trauma and without worry that you will be raked over the coals, revictimized and retraumatized." Ruth Zakarin For survivors, today RUTHZAKARIN.SUBSTACK.COM
November 13, 2025 at 12:31 PM
ruthz.bsky.social
This is a screenshot from the Boston Globe’s coverage of Trump’s demanding states halt feeding people. I hope everyone saves it to bring to their relatives at Thanksgiving who are still going on about states rights. That assumes, of course, that’s families are able to travel for Thanksgiving at all.
The Agriculture Department also said in its memo that states could lose access to some federal money to manage the SNAP program if they failed to comply, and may be "liable" for funding full benefits that the federal government did not authorize.
November 9, 2025 at 6:33 PM
ruthz.bsky.social
There’s no end to their cruelty. A bottomless pit of meanness and evil.

Just fucking feed people.
Trump administration demands states 'undo' work to send full food stamps The Trump administration told states that they must "immediately undo" any actions to provide full food stamp benefits to low-income families, in a late-night Saturday memo. Tony Romm • New York Times • Updated November 9th, 2025, 11:53 AM
November 9, 2025 at 5:50 PM
ruthz.bsky.social
Might be my new evergreen quote
A picture of me testifying in a hearing room with the following captions: COALITION IN THE NEWS MASSACHUSETTS Massachusetts lawmakers debate future of 2024 gun control law Ruth Zakarin, CEO of the Massachusetts Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence, argued in favor of maintaining the law during her testimony on other bills, stating, "Our strong gun laws are saving lives, and it is vital that we protect those laws and continue to build on them." 22 5:05 NEWS ww.x.cOM
November 8, 2025 at 2:55 AM
ruthz.bsky.social
You know what? If the ADL launched an initiative to track and monitor Trump administration policies and appointment to protect Jewish (and all!) Americans I could really get on board with that.

But instead, we have this. And let’s take this a few steps further…

🧵
ADL Launches Initiative to Track and Monitor Mamdani Administration Policies and Appointments, Protect Jewish New Yorkers Organization significantly expands City Hall tracking and incident response capabilities to protect the world's largest Jewish community outside of Israel NEW YORK, NY, November 5, 2025 - Today, ADL (the Anti-Defamation League) announced the launch of a comprehensive initiative to track and monitor policies and personnel appointments of the incoming Mamdani Administration and protect Jewish residents across the five boroughs during a period of unprecedented antisemitism in New York City. "Mayor-Elect Mamdani has promoted antisemitic narratives, associated with individuals who have a history of antisemitism, and demonstrated intense animosity toward the Jewish state that is counter to the views of the overwhelming majority of Jewish New Yorkers. We are deeply concerned that those individuals and principles will influence his administration at a time when we are tracking a brazen surge of harassment, vandalism and violence targeting Jewish residents and institutions in recent years," said Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL CEO and National Director. "We expect the mayor of the city with the largest Jewish population in the world to stand unequivocally against antisemitism in all its varied forms and support all of its Jewish residents just as he would all other constituents. We will hold the Mamdani Administration accountable to this basic standard." Included in the initiatives ADL is launching today in New York City: • NYC Antisemitism Tipline. Building on decades of incident response in New York City and across the country, ADL is establishing a dedicated New York City citywide antisemitism tipline, extending the organization's decades-long incident response work to meet this moment. The tipline will serve as a hyper-focused resource for New Yorkers to report antisemitic incidents in the city, including on the streets, in schools, in their workplace. ADL e…
November 5, 2025 at 11:34 PM
ruthz.bsky.social
Post a perfect album from the 90's that isn't Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden or Alice In Chains.
The album cover of XTC’s Skylarking
October 31, 2025 at 1:39 AM
ruthz.bsky.social
The people of Arizona’s 7th district went to the polls and chose a candidate to represent them. But instead, more than a month after the election, the local congressional office in Tucson is closed and the phones ring unanswered. It’s shameful. And it’s gaslighting. open.substack.com/pub/ruthzaka...
A picture of Adelita Grijalva and her supporters cheering her
October 30, 2025 at 11:33 AM
ruthz.bsky.social
“One in six Massachusetts residents, or about 667,000 households, receive SNAP benefits — including children, the elderly, and residents with disabilities.” - @bostonglobe.com

Can you imagine what the coming weeks will be like for the communities where 1/3 or more of its residents are on SNAP?
Top 10 Boston-area municipalities by share of residents on SNAP Table: NEENA HAGEN/GLOBE STAFF • Source: American Community. Survey, Boston Indicators City Clients Share of population Lawrence 36.4K 41% Brockton 34.7K 33% Lowell 31.9K 28% Lynn 27.8K 28% Chelsea 9.6K 24% Randolph 8.1K 23% Wareham 4.8K 23% Haverhill 14.7K 22% Boston 138.5K 21% Salem 8.4K 19%
October 29, 2025 at 10:47 AM
ruthz.bsky.social
The Trump administration could tap into contingency funds to help feed the people of this country but they said nah.

They will blame the Democrats, but they are the ones in power. They are the who could use their power to feed people but they said nah.

Screenshot: @bostonglobe.com
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has posted a notice on its website saying federal food aid will not go out Nov. 1, raising the stakes for families nationwide as the government shutdown drags on. The new notice comes after the Trump administration said it would not tap roughly $5 billion in contingency funds to keep benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly referred to as SNAP, flowing into November. That program helps about 1 in 8 Americans buy groceries.
October 26, 2025 at 8:31 PM
ruthz.bsky.social
I’m sorry @nytpitchbot.bsky.social but with crap like this you may be out of business
OPINION ROSS DOUTHAT Why Irump's East Wing Demolition Needed to Happen Oct. 25, 2025
October 25, 2025 at 4:58 PM
ruthz.bsky.social
Salt Fat Acid Heat Cat
My gray and white cat on the couch next to a copy of Samin Nosrat’s Salt Fat Acid Heat
October 17, 2025 at 1:17 PM
ruthz.bsky.social
Well, this was entirely predictable and entirely terrible.
Trump calls for a pardon for Netanyahu on corruption charges - 8:22 a.m. By the Associated Press The president even waded into Israeli domestic politics, surprisingly urging the Israeli president to pardon Netanyahu on corruption charges. "That was not in the speech as you probably know," Trump joked of his prepared remarks. He added to Netanyahu, "You are a very popular man. You know why? Because you know how to win."
October 13, 2025 at 5:27 PM
ruthz.bsky.social
Rainy Sunday afternoon, Arlo style
My grey and white kitty curled up on a fuzzy plaid blanked with his front paws stretched out in front and his eyes closed
October 12, 2025 at 7:01 PM
ruthz.bsky.social
“I am not fearful, I am fearless” -New York Attorney General Letitia James
Letitia James smiling at the camera. She is wearing a deep blue top.
October 10, 2025 at 12:15 PM
ruthz.bsky.social
Show me a little gratitude as they cause you harm: exactly what an abuser would say.

And to put a finer point on it: exactly what a racist abuser would say.
JD Vance @JDVance X.com Joy Reid has had such a good life in this country. It's been overwhelmingly kind and gracious to her. She is far wealthier than most. Yet she oozes with contempt. My honest, non-trolling advice to Joy Reid is that you'd be a much happier person if you showed a little gratitude End Wokeness & @EndWokene... •1d Joy Reid: "When my mother came from Guyana she realized it is not a land of opportunity for people like us"
October 3, 2025 at 12:15 PM
ruthz.bsky.social
Morning run view. Fits this Yom Kippur season of reflection, I think.
A glowing sun reflected in a lake and framed by leaves that are turning red.
October 1, 2025 at 12:31 PM
ruthz.bsky.social
Solitary confinement is cruel and the traumatic impact can last a lifetime. And this is happening right here in deepest blue Massachusetts.

I will keep shouting this from the rooftops: you have a right to disagree with immigration policy but no right to hurt immigrants.

This damn country.
Massachusetts jails that have held immigrant detainees have isolated people for weeks at a time, a new report states. The big picture: An increasing number of solitary confinement placements in the U.S. drag on for 15 days or longer, which the United Nations says constitutes psychological torture, according to the report by Harvard University researchers and Physicians for Human Rights.
September 30, 2025 at 12:19 PM
ruthz.bsky.social
Trump told us this campaign against immigrants was for our safety. He told us immigrants were taking our jobs & committing crimes & stealing our public benefits. All lies.

Because the only one taking our jobs and committing crimes would be… Trump.

From my latest: open.substack.com/pub/ruthzaka...
"Trump told us all these things. Stephen Miller and Tom Homan continue to tell us all these things, literally screaming them on Sunday morning news shows and at memorial services, or while hollering their threats at the mayors and public figures who dare stand in their way. They are all lies. But not just lies — they are projections of their own evil deeds. Confessions masquerading as accusations." Ruth Zakarin The lies he tells us RUTHZAKARIN.SUBSTACK.COM
September 30, 2025 at 11:27 AM
ruthz.bsky.social
Every time law enforcement responds to gun violence by saying there’s no threat to the public a part of my soul dies.
GRAND BLANC, Mich. (AP) - Police say fire was set at Michigan church after gunshots and more victims are expected to be found. 1 person dead and 9 injured in shooting at Michigan church, police say. The shooting occurred at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of Detroit, local police said in a social media post. The church was on fire. Police said there is no ongoing threat to the public.
September 28, 2025 at 6:43 PM
ruthz.bsky.social
From my latest, on what I’m sitting with this Rosh Hashanah. open.substack.com/pub/ruthzaka...
"My wish for this Rosh Hashanah is for more of us to center safety. To call out the things that are costumed as public safety but actually cause great harm to real people. To see the trauma of others and not turn our backs to it. To commit to the safety of all communities, not just those who look, think, and talk like us. To understand that our individual safety is impossible without communal safe..." Ruth Zakarin A wish this Rosh Hashanah RUTHZAKARIN.SUBSTACK.COM "This Rosh Hashanah, may we begin a year where more people demand a path to safety — for themselves and for all communities. Where people refuse to accept policies based on punishment and instead call for solutions that give people what they need to be safe." Ruth Zakarin A wish this Rosh Hashanah RUTHZAKARIN.SUBSTACK.COM
September 24, 2025 at 12:26 PM
ruthz.bsky.social
While way too many people were memorializing a very horrible man, my husband and I went out to commune with nature and take a breath. Touch grass, shall we say. In a quiet moment, we made a friend.
A close up of a dragon fly with green leaves in the background. You can see the shimmer of its wings.
September 21, 2025 at 9:45 PM
ruthz.bsky.social
People voted for a man willing to disappear people and militarize cities and rip away health care and destroy our rights and democratic institutions all because our grocery prices were too high?

And now look at this.

It fills me with white hot rage.

Screenshot: Axios Boston
President Trump spent his 2024 campaign promising Americans he'd lower grocery prices. • Virtually all major grocery categories are now more expensive than they were a year ago, some substantially so. Driving the news: The food-at-home component of the Consumer Price Index rose 0.6% in August from July, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Thursday. • This was the biggest month-over-month increase since August 2022, the tail end of a year of huge monthly increases in grocery prices.
September 19, 2025 at 12:19 PM
ruthz.bsky.social
And about that Greg Gutfeld…
Spencer Hakimian @SpencerHakimian X.com "Employers, you have an obligation to get rid of people who are saying horrible things." - Pam Bondi 0:06 S nel AG BONDI ON THE LEFT'S REACTION TO CHARLIE KIRK'S ASSASSINATION HANNITY EXCLUSIVE Hai KATE MILLEED* COMING UP
September 16, 2025 at 2:51 AM
ruthz.bsky.social
Every single person has the right to be safe from gun violence. Today at the Mass Dems convention I spent a lot of time talking to people from across Massachusetts who feel exactly the same way. This is how we build safer communities. Together in coalition. @massago.bsky.social
Myself and a friend dressed in orange shirts standing with Mass AG Andrea Campbell in a convention center My friend and I standing in back of a table for the Massachusetts Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence when all our materials Myself and a friend by the Coalition table smiling for the camera Myself and a friend smiling at the convention
September 13, 2025 at 9:42 PM
ruthz.bsky.social
Screenshot from the Boston Globe regarding Mayor @wutrain.bsky.social’s statement:
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu released a statement that read, in part, that "no police or local resources will be co-opted into federal immigration enforcement or assist in a mass deportation agenda." "For months, ICE has refused to provide any information about their activities in Boston and refuses to issue warrants, while we hear reports of ICE agents taking parents as they are dropping their kids off at school," Wu said.
September 7, 2025 at 11:42 PM